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Friday, March 30, 2012

Roasted Butternut-Apple Pasta Sauce

Yikes!
Another long post… if you get too bored with my silly stories, please scroll
down and check out the recipe I’m sharing today… because it is worth trying!
Trust me? Trust me.

Something
big will happen to me tomorrow… I will wake up and discover that I am a
millionaire! Yeah right, I wish! Tomorrow, I am hiking/running my very first
race. DFJ and I signed up for this together a little over a month ago. It's a
15k race up a mountain (this mountain is not that big… it’s more like a huge
hill), some flat road, and up the mountain again. This is something I would
never have considered until DFJ suggested that we do it together. It would be
pretty darn sweet to do my first race with my special someone. Unfortunately,
when we were training two weeks ago, he lost his footing at the top of the
mountain and sprained his ankle. The worst part was him hobbling down the hill
on a bad foot. Ouch! The doctor says nothing is broken but he has to take it
easy for 3 more weeks or so.

Now,
I'm on my own and am so nervous about how I will do. For the most part, I plan
on hiking the uphill and running the downhill. Then run/walk on the flat. Why
in the world did I not train properly for this? Also, this being my first time,
I have no clue what to expect. How crowded will the event be, what does it feel
like to be in a race, what happens if I need to pee, what if I faint, what if I
decide to quit in the middle of the race and go back to bed, and the worst is what
if someone accidentally pushes me off the side of the mountain? Aaaaahhh! On
top of all these anxiety issues, the weather will be ugly: rainy and windy. Some
crazies will be doing the 100 mile run and they already started this morning…
my goodness, running for two days straight… CRAZY!

On
another note, in case you didn’t know, the Mega Millions is now $640,000,000! I
stood in front of the lottery machine yesterday, no clue what to do, because I
have never bought lottery tickets before. Eventually, I figured it out and
bought 3 tickets. That amount of money is too ridiculous… I really hope 20
people or more will win it so the bounty will be spread. Who needs $640,000,000?
Well, it probably will just be $300,000,000 more or less after taxes and all
that stuff… but still, what in the world will you spend that much money on in
your entire lifetime? Give some to your parents, kids, grandkids, invest in a
business, travel the entire world, build a school, buy a restaurant, buy an
airline, buy a sports team, buy the loveliest property in the South of France,
move to New Zealand and live on a secluded beach? The possibilities are
endless! Tell me, what would you do?

Meanwhile,
as we ponder things to spend millions of dollars on, I bring to you a special
pasta sauce that I am very proud of myself for coming up with… butternut squash
pasta sauce with browned butter and sage. Ideas formed in my head and
meticulous notes were taken. Then, I decided to check online and see if this
sauce has already been invented. Well, duh, of course! The first one that came
up was Martha Stewart’s recipe. Why? Why did she have to come up with
everything already? Especially this sauce that I thought myself a genius for
coming up with. Mind you, the recipe I made up was already written in my
journal before I looked at Martha's. When I realized how close our recipes
were, I added something extra to make me feel good about being creative... apples.

The
roasted squash and apples tasted like the sweet heavens… The full flavors of
the squash came out nicely and the sauce was sweet and creamy… the kind that sticks
to every pasta instead of sliding off. Rich and flavorful in the healthiest
way…

Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Pasta Sauce

5
cups butternut squash, roughly chopped

1
tbsp olive oil

about
4 large sage leaves, torn (or more)

4
garlic cloves, pressed

½
tsp salt

pepper,
freshly ground

2
cups apples, roughly chopped

Browned Butter and Sage

1
tbsp butter, salted

about
4 large sage leaves, torn (or more)

Move
the oven rack to the upper shelf and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In
a large roasting pan, coat the butternut squash with olive oil and add the sage
leaves, pressed garlic, salt, and pepper. Mix everything together well and make
sure all the chopped squash gets coated with olive oil. Put the pan in the oven
and roast for 30 minutes.

Take
the pan out of the oven and add the chopped apples, then give everything a good
stir. Roast for 15 more minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, stir, and let
cool.

Meanwhile,
melt the butter in a small nonstick pan on medium low heat. Once all the butter
has melted, add the sage leaves and cook until the leaves turn brown. Turn off
the stove and move pan away from heat.

Mash
the roasted squash and apples with a potato masher or a fork. Move to a blender
or food processor and puree until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Pour in the
melted butter with browned sage leaves and blend some more.

Enjoy
this sauce on various kinds of pasta, gnocchi, or some healthy greens.

In
a nonstick pan, fry bacon slices over medium heat until nicely brown and
crispy. Remove bacon from pan with tongs and move to a plate covered with a
paper towel to absorb excess oil. Cover the bacon with another paper towel and
crush into pieces with your palms. Move to a small bowl and set aside to be
used as garnish.

In
a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. When the pan is hot, cook the
shallots until slightly soft, about 1 minute. Throw in the chopped mushrooms
and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Season with 1/8 teaspoon salt and some
freshly ground pepper. Add the bell peppers and cook for 2 more minutes. Add
the sauce and cook until it starts to simmer, about 4 minutes.

Toss
the penne with the vegetables and sauce. Pour in the pasta water to thin the
sauce a bit. Turn the heat to medium low and add the spinach. Mix well until
the spinach has wilted. Throw in the frozen peas and stir a little bit more.
Turn the heat off.

About Me

Hello, my name is Margarita. I try to live a healthy lifestyle by eating well and working out. I am a cooking enthusiast and I like sharing my love for good food. Most of my recipes contain lots of vegetables and perhaps a bit of meat here and there. Staying active is one of the things that keep me sane. I love doing yoga, walking, hiking, biking, lifting weights, and occasional running. Join me in my food, travel, and life adventures and together let's eat well, cook right, live strong, and be healthy!